Denver is conducting a nationwide search for a new chief of police, hiring a national firm for $36,000 to help beat the bushes.

But is one of the problems to getting a top-level candidate the salary being offered?

Denver is offering an annual salary of $161,706 for Denver’s top cop. The salary is the third highest among city appointees, after Manager of Aviation ($240,996) and Manager of Public Works ($172,614).

But how does its police chief’s pay rank compared to similar sized cities?

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Denver Mayor Michael Hancock this morning dropped off a suggestion box at the District 6 substation.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock this morning dropped off a suggestion box at the District 6 substation looking to open a dialogue between his office and police officers about the department.

“Basically, I am asking officers to give me their thoughts and opinions about the department, and any ideas they have around the operations of the department as well as characteristics that they would like to see in the next police chief,” Hancock said. “It’s just an opportunity for them to give me feedback on how things are moving and what they expect.”

Hancock earlier this week announced that the city was conducting a national search for a new chief and is paying a Washington, D.C.,-firm, Police Executive Research Forum, $36,000 to conduct the search. The funding for the contract is coming from private sources, which have not yet been identified, said Amber Miller, Hancock’s press secretary.

“In most businesses, when the head of the company gets the ax he — or she — cleans out the old office and is never seen on the premises again.” Not so with Denver police.

Reporter Kevin Vaughan, in the Post’s cops and courts blog, The Rap Sheet, tells us why:

Longtime Chief Gerry Whitman has known his days were numbered since about the time that Mayor John Hickenlooper was elected governor. The reason: Many of the candidates to succeed Hickenlooper made it clear that replacing Whitman was high on their agenda. And it’s not a big surprise — Whitman has been chief for more than 11 years, a long reign in recent Denver history.

After Michael Hancock was elected, he reiterated that determination, going so far as to launch a national search for a replacement even while asking Whitman to stay on indefinitely.
But don’t expect Whitman to disappear once the change is made.

The reason: In Denver, there’s an officer’s civil service position. And then there’s an officer’s appointed position.

Vidal, appointed to the job after Denver’s Mayor John Hickenlooper was elected governor, could have ridden out his six-month term by maintaining the status quo and leaving the tough calls to the next mayor, who Denver voters will elect in a few weeks.

Instead, he pledged to resolve some of the troubling and controversial police disciplinary cases hanging out there. We wrote an editorial back in January, lauding him for that pledge.

Denver mayoral candidate James Mejia gets the endorsement of the Denver police and sheriff's unions.

James Mejia picked up two other unions’ endorsements today, getting the nod from the Denver Police Protective Association and the Denver Sheriff Department Lodge 27 of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Previously, Mejia has received endorsements from the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

“Building trust between the public and our public safety department is going to require bringing everybody to the table,” Mejia said in a statement released today. “I’m proud to have the support of the good men and women represented by the PPA and FOP. As we move forward to building a stronger relationship between the public safety department and all Denverites, I’m very pleased to have the support, input and trust of Butch Montoya and Joe Salazar among the many other Denverites who bring a broad range of perspectives.”

The PPA represents more than 1,400 officers and employees of the Denver Police Department. Lodge 27 of the FOP represents over 500 members of the Denver Sheriff Department.

“The PPA conducted lengthy interviews with several mayoral candidates,” said PPA President Nick Rogers in the release. “After careful consideration and weighing all of the candidates’ positions regarding public safety, the PPA feels that James Mejia is the only candidate who can use leadership and guidance to restore the public trust and take the Denver Police Department back to being known as the number one law enforcement agency in Colorado.”

Learn more about the announcement and endorsements by other citizen activists on Mejia’s website.

Conventional wisdom holds that Republicans would waste time and resources running against Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette, but a powerful national Republican organization has found promising her opponent, Mike Fallon, and extended symbolic support to the Denver doctor late yesterday.

The distinction places Fallon onto something like farm-team status. The NRCC’s program to groom congressional candidates to full-fledged Young Guns notoriety (think wunderkind Rep. Paul Ryan) includes newcomers who have been designated as “On the Radar.”

Fallon joins nine other Republican congressional candidates who are now “On the Radar.”

If the entrepreneurial emergency room doctor’s profile advances from here, the NRCC would label him a “Contender.” From there, he would aspire to full “Young Guns” status.

What does all this mean? And what are they thinking? DeGette, presently rounding out her seventh term in Washington, is a popular Democrat in a hugely Democratic district who wins re-election campaigns as handily as Lance Armstrong won bicycle races in his prime.

Team Fallon’s campaign manager, Michelle Balch Lyng, tells your Spotted This Morning correspondent the designation helps potential donors who care about how their money is spent.

Mayor John Hickenlooper’s charitable giving takes another kick in the teeth this morning, courtesy the hard-working bloggers over at Complete Colorado.

Using the Internet archival program WaybackMachine (a personal favorite), Complete Colorado details that the nonprofit Hickenlooper co-founded and generously funded before becoming Denver’s mayor contributed lavishly to a group that caused the city major headaches in 2007.

Our editorial board pointed out on Sunday that one of the groups, Re-create 68, helped swell the $50 million federal budget provided to Denver to guard itself during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Crummy’s story led us to challenge the now Democratic gubernatorial candidate:

So it was a great irony, and somewhat exasperating, to learn that the Chinook Fund, which Mayor John Hickenlooper helped establish, funds the group and others considered “too risky or too radical” by mainstream foundations.

In previous editorials, we’ve called on Hickenlooper, and other gubernatorial candidates, to publicly release portions of their tax forms that show which organizations they donate money to. In light of the report by The Denver Post’s Karen E. Crummy, we call again for Hickenlooper to be more transparent about his charitable giving.

You’ve by now seen the video. People across the nation have seen it, as it went viral over the weekend.

(Which means, to put it mildly: The case is subjecting Denver’s police to national ridicule.)

Your Spotted This Morning correspondent talked with Perea about his decision to slap the wrists of the officers involved, instead of the dismissals Denver’s Independent Monitor, Richard Rosenthal, suggested.

Perea said the video evidence is only part of the case file.

So true.

What other evidence did Perea consider?

As you can see in our editorial today – titled “Wrong call in police beating” – the barely-in-office safety manager says that, while interviewing the officers, he got a good look at their “body language.”

OK. But what about the video tape? It shows Officer Devin Sparks throw a man who is simply talking on a cell phone face-first onto the pavement and then repeatedly beating the man – even though the poor guy is curled into a ball and drifting into unconsciousness.

(Perea also said that if the suspect, Michael DeHerrera – a skinny musician – had done as Sparks instructed and put his hands behind his back, the beating would have stopped. I found it impossible not to note that, if I were in such a situation, I’d keep my hands over my head until the blows stopped, in order to protect myself. (That’s, you know, like a human instinct, hardwired into the brainpan in such a way as to make it impossible to do otherwise.) Yes, Perea said, but Sparks wasn’t hitting DeHerrea in the head – only in the legs.)

The Denver Post’s Allison Sherry and Lynn Bartels raise some of the biggest questions in an analysis that asks the right questions. Is this just infamous Clinton loyalty and independence, or has Obama’s influence slipped enough that powerful Democrats are willing to break ranks?

The endorsement reintroduces fractures between Colorado Democrats who supported Barack Obama and those who backed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 presidential campaign. Romanoff endorsed Clinton, while Bennet endorsed Obama.

Obama and his allies have thrown considerable political and fundraising support behind Bennet, who was appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter when Sen. Ken Salazar was named interior secretary. As first reported by The Denver Post last year, the White House even offered the prospect of a job as enticement to Romanoff not to mount a primary challenge against Bennet.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.